Botched Gastric Band Bypass

Botched Gastric Band Surgery

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A gastric bypass is a form of weight loss surgery that involves reducing the size of a person’s stomach and shortening the length of the small intestine that food passes through. The procedure allows food to bypass a person’s stomach and part of the small intestine, meaning that only small amounts of food can be eaten and some food won’t be digested fully.

Doctors will only consider gastric bypass surgery if a person has a body mass index (BMI) of over 40 or is suffering with a medical condition, such as diabetes or high blood pressure that could be improved if they were to lose weight. A person must have also tried alternative ways of losing weight before undergoing a gastric bypass.

The operation itself will take between one and three hours and is usually carried out using keyhole surgery. Patients will usually leave hospital two to five days after the operation has taken place.

Following the operation, patients will be asked to make significant changes to their lifestyle, which will include major changes to eating habits due to the small amount of food that will be able to be consumed going forwards. People who have undergone a gastric bypass operation will also need to become more active to keep off the weight. It normally takes between four and six weeks to make a full recovery after a gastric bypass operation.

There are significant risks with a gastric bypass operation and if you experience problems due to negligence, we can help. Being very overweight will increase a person’s risk of complications following any operation.

Complications associated specifically with a gastric bypass operation include:

• An infection in the wound or a chest infection
• A blood clot in the lung
• A leak where the intestine is re-joined to the stomach, which can be extremely serious in certain cases and will usually need a further operation to repair it immediately.
• Excess skin gathering after the operation, which hangs from a person’s frame
• The opening of the stomach into the intestine becoming narrowed, which make it difficult for food to pass through.
• The stomach becoming stretched, caused by overeating.

If you or a loved one has undergone a gastric bypass, or any cosmetic procedure and suffered as the result of a surgeon’s negligence, Russell Worth solicitors can help. Contact us directly here or call 0800 028 2060 to speak with one of our helpful team. You can also contact us via our Twitter and Facebook pages.